Storage chest having interchangeable display/storage panels and means for storing such panels

ABSTRACT

A storage chest having interchangeable display panels, a recess on the chest front wall for removably displaying at least one display panel and a storage rack, vertically slidable up and down relative to the top of the chest, on the rear wall of the chest for slidably storing one or more display panels not currently in use. The display panel includes a transparent sheet overlying display items on its front face and a storage recess defined in its rear face.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

None

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to storage chests and, more particularly, to chests having interchangeable display panels, which are also suitable for storing small items, and means on the chest for storing such panels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The traditional storage chest comprises a base, front and rear walls, opposite side walls and a top wall pivotally mounted by hinge means for opening the chest to access the interior thereof. The interior of the chest typically is either empty or contains a plurality of partitions to create a plurality of compartments. Some storage chests include a picture frame on one of the exterior wall surfaces having a transparent panel behind which a pictures or a photograph may be displayed.

A disadvantage of the traditional storage chest is that it lacks sufficient useful display space for displaying pictures, photographs or graphics, which celebrate some theme, such as holidays, special occasions, memories, pets, toys, and the like. Moreover, with traditional storage chests, it is difficult to change the theme of the chest. For example, if a child has a traditional toy chest which has its several panels in different colors, when the child gets older the chest is pretty much useless for any other purpose. Most chests which have a theme have the same disadvantage. For example, a chest that is decorated for Christmas is inappropriate for any other holiday and will retain its Christmas theme throughout the year. Similarly, if the theme of the display on the chest celebrates a season, such as Spring, when another season comes along, such as Winter, the Spring theme chest becomes inappropriate. As a result, a single traditional chest cannot be used to celebrate different themes at different times.

It would be particularly desirable to have a chest which allowed the user to make or have made a theme display, use it when appropriate, and then save it for future use while replacing it with a different theme display. Thus, a Spring theme display on a chest could, during the Winter, be removed and replaced by a Winter theme and, during the next year be re-used during the Spring. Accordingly, there exists a need for a chest which provides sufficient useful display space to celebrate holidays, special occasions, memories, pets, and the like and, when it is desired to change the display, to preserve and store displays not currently in use on the chest.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a chest which provides sufficient display space to celebrate holidays, special occasions, memories, pets, and the like.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a chest which permits removal of one display and replacement with another display while, at the same time, allowing unused displays to be preserved without disassembly thereof.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a chest which provides storage areas for storing unused displays.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a chest which includes interchangeable display panels and means for storing display panels not currently in use.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a chest which includes interchangeable display panels wherein each display panel includes storage space therein.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a chest which is safe for use by children and which includes interchangeable display panels.

The foregoing and other objects are achieved in accordance with the present invention by providing a storage chest having interchangeable display panels and means on the chest for storing display panels not currently in use.

In another aspect of the invention, there is provided a storage chest in which the display panels include storage space therein.

In still another aspect of the invention, there is provided, a storage chest having interchangeable display panels, means on the chest for displaying at least one display panel and means on the chest for storing display panels not currently in use.

In yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided a storage chest having interchangeable display panels and which includes safety hinges and air holes to prevent injury to children.

In another aspect of the invention there is provided a storage chest comprising a base, front and rear walls, opposite side walls and a top wall pivotally mounted across the top of the chest, said top wall being pivotable between chest open and chest closed positions, a recess in said front wall and storage rack means mounted on said rear wall, a display panel dimensioned for fitting within said recess, said display panel having front and rear faces, said rear face including attaching means for removably engaging attaching means within said recess for removably attaching said display panel within said recess, said front face mounting display items thereon and including a transparent sheet overlying said front face for protecting said display items, said storage rack means comprising one or more storage areas suitably dimensioned for slidably receiving one or more additional display panels therein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the chest of the present invention in the closed position.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the chest of FIG. 1 showing the decorative panels fully inserted in their respective storage areas.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the chest of FIG. 1 showing the storage rack for the decorative panels in its raised position and one decorative panel only partially inserted in its storage area.

FIGS. 4 a and 4 b are side elevational views of the chest of FIG. 1 with the storage rack in the storage position and in the raised position, respectively.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the chest of FIG. 1 in the open position.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an organizer which may be stored within the chest of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a portion of the underside of the frame of the display panel of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a rear elevational view of the display panel of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the display panel of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line 11-11 in FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-5, a storage chest 10 comprises a base 12, front and rear walls 14, 16, opposite side walls 18, 20 and a top wall 22 pivotally mounted by hinge means 24 for opening the chest 10 to access the interior thereof. The interior of the chest 10 is empty and ready to receive whatever is to be stored therein. The hinge means may be a single piano hinge, one or multiple hinges connecting the rear wall 16 to the top wall 22, one or multiple hinges connecting the side walls 18,20 to the top wall 22, or any other well known hinge means. The top wall is pivotable about the hinge means 24 between a closed position, as shown in FIG. 1, and an open position, as shown in FIG. 5. The front wall 14 includes a recess 26 for removably receiving a display panel 28 (see FIGS. 7-11) therein. Desirably, magnet means are utilized for removably attaching the display panel 28 within recess 26, although any other well known means for removably retaining the display panel 28 within the recess 26 may be employed. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 9, the magnet means comprises small magnets 30 within the recess which engage metal plates 32 on the rear face 60 of display panel 28. Storage chest 10 is desirably formed of wood, but can be formed of other suitable materials, such as rigid plastic and metal. In other embodiments multiple recesses may be formed in the front wall 14 for displaying multiple display panels.

On the rear face of the rear wall 16 of chest 10, a display panel storage rack 34 is mounted for up and down movement relative to the rear wall 16. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the storage rack 34 slidably receives three display panels 28 within three side-by-side, open top storage areas 36, 38, 40 defined within the storage rack 34. Each of the storage areas is formed by a pair of spaced apart, vertically-extending channels, each of which opens inwardly into the storage area. A bottom rail 42, common to all three storage areas and attached to each channel, supports the lower edge of a display panel 28 inserted into a storage area and a top rail 44, common to all three storage areas and attached to each channel, provides structural integrity to the storage rack configuration and provides a grasping surface for lifting and lowering the storage rack 34. In the preferred embodiment, the storage rack 34 comprises four vertically-extending, spaced apart channels 46,48,50,52, the two outside channels 46,52 opening inwardly and the two inside channels 48,50 each opening to both the left and right. In this manner, two outside storage areas 36, 40 are defined between one outside channel 46,52 and its closest inside channel 48,50 and one storage area 38 is defined between the two inside channels 48,50. The size and spacing of the channels are appropriate to the size of the display panels 28. It will be appreciated that it is not necessary to provide three storage areas and, depending upon the dimensions of the display panel, the dimensions of the chest, and the desired configuration, there can be more or fewer storage areas.

Storage rack 34 is mounted on the rear face of the rear wall 16 using at least two slides 54 which fixedly mount to the rear wall 16, in alignment with the outside channels 46,52 of storage rack 34, and slidably mount to outside channels 46,50 to permit the storage rack 34 to slide vertically in slides 54 between a storage position wherein the storage rack 34 is entirely positioned behind rear wall 16 (and is, desirably, not visible from the front of chest 10) and a raised rack position wherein the rack is slid vertically upward a distance less than the major dimension of the display panel, i.e., the vertical dimension when the display panel 28 is mounted in one of the storage areas 36,38,40 of rack 34 (see FIG. 3). It has been found that it is significantly easier to insert display panels 28 into and remove display panels 28 from a storage rack in the raised position than in the storage position. Desirably the rack in its raised position extends about one third of its major dimension above the top wall 22 of the chest 10 in its closed position. Slides 54 desirably restrict the height to which the rack 34 may be raised and frictionally hold the rack in its raised position. For this purpose, it has been found that drawer slides, such as a slide known commercially as a KV1129 center under mount drawer slide, available from the Knape Vogt Manufacturing Company of Grand Rapids, Mich., work effectively. More than two slides 54 may be used, if desired and, if used, should be mounted to the rear wall 16 in alignment with one or more of the inside channels 48,50.

Referring to FIGS. 7-11, each display panel 28 comprises a base panel 56 having a front face 58 for mounting display items and a rear face 60, the rear face 60 being dimensioned to fit within recess 26 on front wall 14 of chest 10. A decorative frame 62 is mounted on the front face 58 at its perimeter. Frame 62 is preferably constructed from a pair of generally horizontal top and bottom frame rails interconnected at their ends by arcuate side rails to conform the frame to the generally oval preferred shape of display panel 28. Frame 62 includes a decorative front side 64, such as a half round or other design, and a planar rear side 66 for face-to-face mounting on the front face 58 of the display panel 28. Desirably, frame 62 is mounted to the front face 58 using screw fasteners 59 which are inserted into the rear face 60 and extend through the base panel 56 into the rear side 66 of frame 62 in order to allow frame 62 to be removable from the display panel 28. Alternatively, frame 62 may be non-removably mounted, for example, using an adhesive. Frame 62 includes an undercut extending partially through the rear side 66 to define a shoulder 68, which is parallel to the upper margin 64 a of the front side of the frame 62, and an undercut surface 70 perpendicular to shoulder 68. A transparent sheet 72 covering the entire front face 58 of the display panel can be mounted within frame 60 with the perimetric marginal surface 72 a of the forward face of sheet 72 in contact with undercut surface 70 and the marginal edge 72 b of sheet 72 abutting shoulder 68 of frame 62. Transparent sheet 72 protects the pictures, photographs, etc. which are displayed on the front face 58 of display panel 28. Both display panel 28 and frame 62 are desirably formed of wood. However, they can be formed of other suitable materials as well, such as plastic, metal and the like. Transparent sheet 72 is a clear, transparent panel, such as a sheet of plexiglass, other plastic or, for some limited applications, glass.

The rear face 60 of display panel 28 has a narrow groove 74 formed around substantially the entirety of the perimeter of the rear face 60 for dimensioning the face to fit within recess 26. A storage recess 76 is defined generally centrally in rear face 60. Recess 76 is generally rectangular in shape and includes two lateral walls 78,80 and two transverse walls 82,84. One of the transverse walls 84 is desirably beveled for reasons which will be explained hereinafter. The storage recess is desirably dimensioned to receive a book therein, such as a scrap book or a photo album. The book is positioned in the recess such that the beveled wall 84 allows easy access to the pages of the book. In a preferred embodiment the book is retained within storage recess 76 by one or more threaded fasteners. By placing the display panel on a surface with its front face 58 toward the surface, the book in recess 76 can be read and the pages turned without removing the book from recess 76. Perimetric groove 74 is interrupted only adjacent lateral wall 80 to mount a lever 86 on rear face 60 at that location. Lever 86 is pivotable between a position parallel to lateral wall 80, which allows the book to be opened, and a position which is perpendicular to lateral wall 80 and projecting toward recess 76, for overlying the cover of the book within recess 76 to maintain the book in the closed position. Rear face 60 also includes two metal plates 32 spaced apart on opposite sides of recess 76 and positioned in alignment with magnets 30 in chest front wall recess 26 to removably attach the display panel within recess 26.

Toys, clothing and other items may be stored within chest 10. If desired, organizers, such as storage boxes 88, of various sizes, having covers 90, shown in FIG. 6, may be used to store personal items, small items, letters, and the like. Inasmuch as chest 10 may frequently be used by children, it may be made child safe by utilizing safety hinge means 24, by omitting locks to prevent a child from being trapped within the chest and by forming air holes 92 under chest lifting handles 94 which project from each of side walls 18,20. Since the chest 10 is not airtight, it is useful for the storage boxes 88 to be made of cedar to preserve any items placed therewithin. To make the storage chest 10 easy to move around, wheels 96 may be positioned projecting from the bottom of base 12.

While the present invention has been described in terms of specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design other than as defined in the appended claims. 

1. A storage chest comprising a base, front and rear walls, opposite side walls and a top wall pivotally mounted across the top of the chest, said top wall being pivotable between chest open and chest closed positions, a recess in said front wall and storage rack means mounted on said rear wall, a display panel dimensioned for fitting within said recess, said display panel having front and rear faces, said rear face including attaching means for removably engaging attaching means within said recess for removably attaching said display panel within said recess, said front face mounting display items thereon and including a transparent sheet overlying said front face for protecting said display items, said storage rack means comprising one or more storage areas suitably dimensioned for slidably receiving one or more additional display panels therein.
 2. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 1, wherein each storage area of said storage rack comprises a pair of vertically extending channels mounted on the rear wall of said chest, said channels opening into said storage area.
 3. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 1, including means mounting said storage rack to said rear wall of said chest for allowing said storage rack to slide vertically up and down relative to the top wall of said chest.
 4. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 2, including means mounting said storage rack to said rear wall of said chest for allowing said storage rack to slide vertically up and down relative to the top wall of said chest.
 5. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 4 wherein said storage rack includes three storage areas, said rack including four vertically extending channels spaced apart along the rear wall of said chest for slidably receiving a display panel in each storage area, said rack including a lower rail common to all three storage areas and connected to each channel for supporting the bottom of the display panels in the storage areas and an upper rail common to all three storage areas and connected to each channel for providing a grasping surface for slidably raising and lowering said storage rack.
 6. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 1, including a peripheral frame mounted on said front face of said display panel.
 7. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 6, said transparent sheet overlying said front face with its peripheral edge under said frame.
 8. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 7, wherein said frame has a planar rear surface including an undercut for defining a rear shoulder, the peripheral edge of said transparent sheet abutting said rear shoulder.
 9. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 1, including a storage recess defined in said rear face of said display panel.
 10. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 9, wherein said storage recess is dimensioned and shaped to receive a book therein.
 11. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 10, including means for retaining said book in said recess.
 12. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 10, including means for keeping said book closed while in said storage recess.
 13. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 1, including air holes in said chest.
 14. A storage chest, as claimed in claim 1, including at least one handle projecting outwardly from each side wall of said chest and including air holes in said side walls under said handles. 